Question--how were one-piece brass hilts manufactured?

[FortyTwoBlades]

Anyone have an idea of how they made them? I'm talking about the ones used on swords like briquet hangers and the like. The tangs pass all the way through and are peened in place, so how did they get the fit right for the tang? Method of casting? Etc? Would be interested in knowing if anyone has info on that aspect of mass manufacture in that era.

 

[horseclover]

I have never encountered a concise description of the solid, or even composite pieced together hilts but some are quite hollow inside (ala the short Ames 1832 artillery) but the same patterns (again taking the short gladius types) are I would think just bored out with just the pommel hole sized absolutely for the end of the tang. Some of the older brasss hilts were definitely of two piece (two sides). Using that example, the Ames has rivets through the side of the tang but those that were marked by Horstmann peened. I suspect even the French type briquet are quite hollow inside, even when one piece.

Considering casting goes back to early written history, I would leave the tricks of the trade to be described by those founding. Turning a model to a master and then using clay or sand as a mold.

Just my thoughts which really do include, I don't know exactly

Cheers

GC